~ A Writing Journey

Prompt 24 – a ‘mix and match’ poem

Today I challenge you to write a “mix-and-match” poem in which you mingle fancy vocabulary with distinctly un-fancy words. First, spend five minutes writing a list of overly poetic words – words that you think just sound too high-flown to really be used by anyone in everyday speech. Examples might be vesper, heliotrope, or excelsior. Now spend five minutes writing words that you might use or hear every day, but which seem too boring or quotidian to be in a poem. Examples might be garbage disposal, doggy bag, bathroom. Now mix and match examples from both of your lists into a single poem. Hopefully you’ll end up with a poem that makes the everyday seem poetic, and which keeps your poetic language grounded.

Aubade

I will open the cupboard door
in the early light;
pack plates in wicker basket –
a caprice, this day
when sun rises mellifluous.
Our plans nebulous,
we will pack the car boot,
with tartan rug, food, drink,
drive to that moment of felicity
in the tree’s shade,
ephemeral,
special,
while the sun rises to its zenith.

With this I definitely felt ‘less is more’ and did not use all my words. I could have got a more wacky poem if I’d gone for some more bizarre choices for the everyday words. Perhaps I’ll try that another day!